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OPINION: Are the new ICC rankings totally meaningless?

Earlier this month the ICC announced their new rankings system for women’s cricket, which combines results from all three formats of the game into one table, to produce the Definitive List of where each team sits in relation to the others.

As we pointed out on CRICKETher at the time, the fact that Australia lead the way is no surprise, but below that there are some quite interesting placings!

Having said that… the ICC should be given some credit here for what they are trying to do: promote the women’s game. Having a single rankings system simplifies this process. It gives meaning to matches like the recent Pakistan-West Indies ODI, whereby seventh-ranked Pakistan pulled off an unexpected and exciting win against fifth-ranked West Indies. And it gives some context to bilateral series’ which, unlike the women’s Ashes, often still go under the radar.

Giving the media something to latch onto, and helping them create coherent stories and narratives about the women’s game, can surely only help women’s cricket in the long-run. So, even if it is via an oversimplified methodology, CRICKETher think that there’s room for both the ICC rankings and the more sophisticated WCB ones.